Cunnilings & Psychiatry: "Kaisha"

(SPOILER SPACE: If you don't want Sunday's episode of "The Sopranos" spoiled for you do NOT scroll down past the picture of Christopha and his smoking new wife)


The last episode until January 2007 was a sex-filled hour that did not have the big payoff of previous "season finales". Christopha claimed he did not bring his new goomah around the crew because she was "a shine" when the truth was she was Tony's latest extra-curricular interest, Julianna Skiff. Furthermore Julianna met Christopha in Narcotics Anonymous. For a while they are strength for one another but after Julianna treats a cold with some Valerian Tea they dive back into heroin.

Its actually AJ's new love interest that seems to be more objectionable to Tony. Bianca a clerk at the construction company is ten years older than him and has a three year old son named Hector. But after AJ bribes a couple thugs to stop hanging hear her apartment with a bike, they have a jarringly rough sex session.

On top of this tensions between Phil Leotardo's Brooklyn crew and Tony's New Jersey crew remain high after Tony goes ahead with blowing up Phil's "wire house" where he and HIS goomah/housekeeper were about to "get something straight between us". Little Carmine manages to smooth all issues but stupidly brings up the death of Phil's brother which sets off Phil until he has a heart attack leading to an emotional truce between him and Phil that in the long run didn't mean anything.

Tony is able to settle Carmela's Sherlock Holmes instincts by getting her spec house project approved and the entire family minus Meadow (more on this later) gets together on Christmas Eve for a loooooonnnnnnnngggggg Christmas vacation.

I noticed right away that HBO advertised this show as the "last show of the year" rather than a "Season Finale". According to them these past 10 episodes and the following 8 are one long season, similar to the fourth season of OZ which took a couple month hiatus between episodes. I imagine that was to temper expectations as some one-time appearing character's secret sex and drug addiction really wasn't the payoff I was looking for. Her character in this episode made me wish I waited a week to do my "All-Time TV Go Team" column.

They spent a lot of time on AJ this season and while if I never see another sex scene with him again, it'll be too soon. It did have some effect on the audience in this sense. AJ is known up until now for one thing, being the pudgy fuckup kid of Tony Soprano who once said "so what, No Fucking Ziti now?" his first sex scene reminded us of how much he's "grown up" and how long we've gotten to know this family as one of our neighbors.

What should be discouraging was Meadow getting the "Brenda Walsh Treatment" during the episode, "calling" the house having the phone passed around but never did her character make it on camera or even her voice. It makes me think as if Jamie-Lyn Sigler's Sopranos days may be over.

I still think someone in the New York Crew will go after either Christopher or Tony in the final eight episodes, although I must admit I don't know what to expect from this show anymore and am looking forward to the day I don't have to defend its letdowns.

Next Week: The debut of "Hugging it Out"